Berry Swirl Guest Soaps

February 11, 2013 By

by Rustic Escentuals

An adorable guest soap tutorial with added poppy seeds and a moisturizing oil. This will make a wonderful last minute gift that looks anything but last minute! This tutorial will make 16 Berry Swirl guest soaps.

Step 1: Cut up 10 ounces of Ultra Clear Melt & Pour soap into small cubes using a sharp knife.

Step 2: Melt soap base in a microwave safe glass container in 30-second bursts until melted. Do not burn or boil, this will result in a poor quality rubbery soap. If there are any small chunks of soap left, stir slowly; the heat of the soap will melt these small chunks.

Step 3: Use a thermometer to monitor the soap base temperature. I don’t like to add any fragrance oils or additives when the soap is too hot, so I wait for it to cool to about 145 degrees.

Step 4: Using a disposable pipette, add 4 ml’s of Strawberry Musk Fragrance Oil. Stir in slowly until fully incorporated. TIP:Always stir the soap base slowly after adding anything; this will help minimize bubbles in the soap.

Step 6: Add 1/4 teaspoon of moisturizing Apricot Kernel Oil. Your soap will look a bit clouded, but will clear up after stirring for a bit.

stir in your apricot kernel oil and stir to combine

Step 7: Slowly add 1/4 teaspoon of poppy seeds to the soap and stir slowly. You can add more or a bit less, but try to keep the total of any additives that you add to the soap to no more than 1/2 tablespoon per pound of soap base.

add poppy seeds and slowly stir to combine

Step 8: As you learned in the Exfoliating Massage Bar Tutorial, the trick to keeping your exfoliant suspended throughout the soap is to keep stirring slowly while you let it cool. It won’t be ready for pouring until you see the soap getting thicker. This take a bit of patience, you don’t want to pour it until you reach this point. If a thin skin forms on top of the soap, don’t stir it back into the soap – just nudge it over to the side of your container before pouring.

to keep your exfoliant suspended, continue to stir until soap cools a bit

Step 9: When ready, pour the soap slowly into the mold.

slowly pour cooled soap into your mold

Step 10: Finish off with a final spritz of alcohol to remove any bubbles.

spritz with rubbing alcohol to remove any bubbles that might have formed

Step 11: Wait 2-3 hours for the soap to completely harden.

let soap harden for 2-3 hours

Step 12: Turn the mold over carefully and slowly press on the bottom of the cavities to release the soap. Do not force it. If the soap won’t come out, wait another 1/2 hour or so. You can even pop the soap in the freezer for 5 minutes then try again.